The Pittsburgh Pirates head to Busch Stadium on Tuesday to take on the St. Louis Cardinals. The probable pitchers are Jameson Taillon for the Pirates and Mike Leake for the Cardinals. The opening line for this game has Pittsburgh at +137 and St. Louis at -147. The over/under is 8. The Pirates have a 50-31-1 over/under mark and a 39-43-0 run line record, meaning they cover 48% of the time. The Cardinals are 43-38-0 against the run line and have a 44-33-4 over/under record. They cover the spread 53% of the time.

The Pirates head into this game with a 41-41 record, and they are 19-22 on the road. Starting pitcher Jameson Taillon has a 2-1 record with an ERA of 3.86 and a WHIP of 1.25. He has 21 strikeouts during his 28 innings pitched and he has given up 30 hits so far this year. He has surrendered 9.6 hits per 9 innings and he has a FIP of 4.17. The bullpen this season has an earned run average of 3.89 and they have allowed 272 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .252 against the pen while they've been struck out 228 times and walked 116 times this year. As a unit, Pittsburgh has given up 9.2 base hits per nine innings while striking out 7.11 hitters per nine. They are 18th in the Majors in team earned run average at 4.40. The Pirates pitchers have collectively given up 753 base hits and 360 earned runs. They have allowed 95 home runs this season and they allow 1.2 homers per nine innings as a staff. Pittsburgh as a pitching staff has walked 291 batters and struck out 582. They walk 3.6 men per 9 innings while striking out 7.1 per 9. They have a team WHIP of 1.42 and their FIP as a unit is 4.58.

As a team, Pittsburgh is hitting .265, good for 9th in the league while putting together a .255 average on the road. The Pirates have a .411 team slugging percentage and an OBP of .337 which is good for 3rd in the league. They rank 8th in baseball with 9.16 hits per contest. Starling Marte comes into this game hitting .322 and his on-base percentage is at .368. He has 93 hits this season along with 45 runs scored and 31 runs batted in. He's struck out 67 times and has walked 11 times. Gregory Polanco is hitting .295 and he has an on-base percentage of .373. He has totaled 83 hits so far while scoring 48 runs and he's driven in 47. He has walked 38 times and has struck out 67 times. The Pirates have 751 hits, including 149 doubles and 76 home runs. They've stolen 60 bases while they've been thrown out stealing 22 times. Pittsburgh has walked 272 times this season and they've struck out 682 times as a unit. They've left 611 men on base and have a team OPS of .748. They score 4.65 runs per contest and have scored a total of 381 runs so far this year.

St. Louis comes into this game with a 18-23 home mark and a 43-38 overall record. With an ERA of 4.13, Mike Leake has a 5-6 record and a 1.21 WHIP. He has 63 strikeouts over the 98 innings he's pitched during which he has given up 102 hits. He has allowed 9.4 hits per nine innings and his FIP stands at 4.39. So far this season the bullpen has an earned run average of 3.77 and they have given up 193 base hits on the year. Teams are hitting .221 against the Cardinals bullpen while being struck out 231 times and walking 89 times this season. As a team, St. Louis has allowed 8.51 hits per nine innings while striking out 7.6 batters per nine. They are 10th in the league in team earned run average at 3.92. The Cardinals pitchers as a team have surrendered 683 base knocks and 315 earned runs so far this season. They have given up 71 home runs this year and they give up 0.9 home runs per nine innings as a staff. St. Louis as a staff has walked 232 hitters and struck out 610. They give up a walk 2.9 times per 9 innings while they strike out 7.6 per 9. Their team WHIP is 1.27 while their FIP as a staff is 3.82.

As a team, they are batting .261, good for 13th in the league while putting together a .254 average at home. The Cardinals hold a .446 team slugging percentage and an on-base percentage of .334 which is good for 6th in baseball. They rank 13th in baseball with 9.01 hits per contest. Matt Carpenter comes into this matchup batting .298 and he has an OBP of .421. He has 82 hits this year along with 56 runs scored and 51 RBI. He's struck out 58 times and has walked on 57 occasions. Yadier Molina is hitting .259 and he has an OBP of .327. He has collected 71 hits so far while he's scored 28 runs and drove in 27. He has earned a walk 26 times and has punched out 35 times. The Cardinals as a unit have 731 base hits, including 156 doubles and 108 homers. They have 18 stolen bases while they've been thrown out 15 times. St. Louis as a team has walked 284 times this year and they have struck out 629 times. They've had 578 men left on base and have an OPS of .781. They score 5.25 runs per game and have totaled 425 runs so far this season.

Pittsburgh Pirates Betting Trends

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 50-31-1 against the over/under so far this season

The Pittsburgh Pirates are 39-43-0 against the run line so far this season

St. Louis Cardinals Betting Trends

The St. Louis Cardinals are 44-33-4 against the over/under so far this season

The St. Louis Cardinals are 43-38-0 against the run line so far this season

7U NBA Pick on Sunday (10:30
p.m. EST; Portland/LA
Clippers)! DOC'S SPORTS NBA
has a pick for a game we
have
had circled all week as the
Clippers host the Blazers.
We
are on a 13-4 run for picks
rated 6-Units or higher and
we expect an easy winner
tonight. A one-day package
is
only $30! Free Play #702
Take
Toronto -6.5 over Oklahoma
City (1:05 p.m. EST, Sunday
March 18)
The Raptors will be ultra
motivated here on Sunday as
they go for a franchise-
record 12 straight wins.
They
are playing the best
basketball in the east and
in
our eyes are the clear
favorite to represent that
conference in the NBA
Finals.
They have that good of a
team
this year. They are the
better team, at this point
in
the season, in this matchup
and they are 7-2 ATS in day
games this season. They
normally play very well in
these early matinee games
and
we expect the same today.
The
Thunder are just 3-9 ATS
away
from home against winning
teams and they also have a
tough game coming up Tuesday
at Boston to worry about and
since that is the
more "marquee" matchup they
may be more focused on that
game. But if both teams play
their best, we think Toronto
wins by 7+ in this game.
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